Rene Levesque

Rene Levesque (24 August 1922-1 November 1987) was Premier of Quebec from 25 November 1976 to 3 October 1985, succeeding Robert Bourassa and preceding Pierre-Marc Johnson. Levesque was a strong supporter of independence for Quebec, and he founded the Parti Quebecois nationalist movement.

Biography
Rene Levesque was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick in 1922, and he served as a war correspondent during World War II before joining Radio Canada International and becoming one of Quebec's best-known commentators. In 1960 he was elected to the provincial legislature for the Liberal Party of Canada. He held various ministries and was responsible, for example, for the nationalization of Hydro-Quebec. Disillusioned with the Liberal position on constitutional issues, he founded the Parti Quebecois in 1968. He won the 1976 provincial elections and made French the only official language of Quebec. However, he failed to gain popular approval in a 1980 referendum on greater autonomy for the province, losing to a campaign led by Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien. He also failed to gain sympathy for Quebec's concerns for greater autonomy at the 1981-2 constitutional negotiations, and his popularity waned as he introduced large public-sector spending cuts. He resigned to resume his career in journalism, and he died in 1987.